Legendary head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are playing out the string in what will end up being another lost season in Foxborough.
New England heads into Week 13’s outing against the Los Angeles Chargers with a 2-9 record. The team is on pace to have its worst season since back in 1992 when Belichick was manning the sidelines for the Cleveland Browns.
It has led to widespread speculation that the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach could be out of a job following the 2024 season.
We’re now hearing more about Belichick’s future in the NFL courtesy of Sport’s Illustrated’s Albert Breer. Citing sources close to the situation, Belichick will get another head coaching job should New England part ways with him.
“I talked to somebody pretty high up with one of these organizations the other day who said to me he thinks there’s two coaches that are assured of getting jobs on the market in 2024 and it’s Ben Johnson and Bill Belichick,”report on Bill Belichick.
The 71-year-old Belichick has already been linked to multiple potential openings around the football world. It makes sense. He’s among the most-successful head coaches in the history of the game.
However, Belichick’s reputation has taken somewhat of a hit since Tom Brady departed the Patriots’ organization following the 2019 season. He’s posted a 219-64 record in New England, but is also a mere 27-34 without Brady in the mix. That includes just one playoff appearance.
Despite these recent struggles, teams will have interest in Belichick based on his track record and the sense of stability he would bring to an organization. Here are some options for the legendary head coach.
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Bill Belichick heads to the Washington Commanders
Recent reports indicated that the Commanders could have interest in trading for Belichick. At this point, any team looking to make a move for the future Hall of Fame head coach would likely have to work out a trade. He signed a contract extension with New England ahead of the 2023 season.
Washington makes a ton of sense. We covered the stability Belichick has brought to New England over the past quarter-century. Washington had been the complete antithesis of this under disgraced former owner Daniel Snyder during that same quarter-century span.
Since Belichick took over with the Patriots in 2000, the Commanders have gone through nine different head coaches with a mere five playoff appearances. New Washington owner Josh Harris might very well want to make a splash while continuing to change the culture. Belichick would represent this to a T.
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Las Vegas Raiders go back to the New England Patriots’ well
Speaking stability, this has lacked within the Raiders’ organization since the great Al Davis passed away back in 2011. In the 12 seasons since, the Raiders have gone through 13 different head coaches. They’ve earned two playoff appearances without a postseason win and just fired Josh McDaniels after less than two full seasons.
Mark Davis is fed up with what he’s seeing in Sin City right now. Is there a real chance that he could go back to the Patriots’ organization and bring in the widely-respected Belichick? We’ve seen crazier things happen.
Belichick rides off into the sunsent
The other option here is that Belichick concludes that he’s had enough with the NFL and wants to ride off into the sunset. He’s the second-oldest head coach in the NFL at 71-year-old.
Belichick has been in the league as an assistant or head coach since his stint under Ted Marchibroda with the then-Baltimore Colts back in 1975.
We know that Belichick is a football lifer. But would he want to potentially tarnish his reputation further by going to another downtrodden organization with a history of failure? It’s a real question that must be asked.